Alto Hires Paul Gould as New Head Football Coach + Athletic Director

Alto QB Zac Sturns hands the ball to Jacolby Whitaker during the Yellowjackets’ 62-42 fourth-round loss to Mart in Athens. Whitaker has been named District 10-A Division I Most Valuable Player. (Noreen Nartia, ETSN.fm)

Alto didn’t look far to find a replacement for veteran head football coach and athletic director Keith Gardner.

Alto offered offensive coordinator Paul Gould the dual role and he accepted Monday night, Gould told ETSN.fm in a text around 10 p.m.

Gould inherits an Alto team that reached the Class A Division I Region III final in 2012, when the Yellowjackets finished 11-3 and fell to eventual state finalist Mart 62-42 in the regional title game.

Alto enters the 2013 season with a strong backfield tandem in running back Jacolby Whitaker and quarterback Zac Sturns. The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Whitaker ran for 2,696 yards and 38 touchdowns in 2012, when the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Sturns ran for 1,265 yards and 13 scores while throwing for 939 yards, 10 touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Alto carries a 25-year streak of winning seasons into 2013. The Jackets have reached the playoffs 21 times in that span, including 20 of the last 21 years.

Gardner was a huge part of that during the past eight seasons, leading the Jackets to an 80-19 record and consecutive Class A state championships in 2006-07. Alto went 28-0 in those two seasons.

Gardner took Alto to the playoffs every year and won at least eight games each season, losing no more than four in a campaign.

ETSN.fm on Facebook

Welcome back to ETSN.fm - East Texas Sports Network

It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on .
To keep your personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you.
To activate your account, please confirm your password.
When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.

Welcome back to ETSN.fm - East Texas Sports Network

It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://etsn.fm using your original account information.